Training Manager

Title: Training Manager

Location: Eastern or Southern Africa - must have current work authorization

Reports to: Director of Programs

Travel: up to 50%

Start Date: November 1, 2025

Grassroot Soccer (GRS) is a global adolescent health organization that leverages the power of soccer to equip young people with the life-saving information, services, and mentorship they need to live healthier lives. GRS’s signature ‘SKILLZ’ programs have reached 25 million adolescents in 60 countries through a network of 23,000 trained mentor ‘Coaches’. GRS’s youth-centered model equips young people with the knowledge, skills, and agency to make healthy choices; connects them to positive mentors, peers, and support systems that respond to their needs; and supports them to take action – practicing healthy behaviors and accessing the services and opportunities they need to thrive.

Key to the GRS methodology is the ability to transform community members into youth-friendly “Caring Coaches” who are respected and admired by young people. Soccer experience is not a requirement or key focus area. The main role of the Caring SKILLZ Coach is to deliver the health-focused SKILLZ curriculum to young people in their communities. GRS uses the power of soccer to recruit young people and keep them engaged in the health promotion program. While recreational soccer may follow SKILLZ sessions, fundamentals of the sport are not part of our program. Caring SKILLZ Coaches go far beyond simply passing on information in the curriculum to young people. A Caring SKILLZ Coach is a skilled facilitator who role models the behaviours they are trying to promote, and most importantly, demonstrates a clear passion for the work they are doing. In order for GRS’s approach to learning to work effectively, Coaches must be carefully selected, effectively trained, and continuously supported. Coaches must be viewed not only as implementers of programs but as beneficiaries themselves.

Overall Description:

The Training Manager will be responsible for managing Grassroot Soccer’s capacity building approach for the near-peer mentors who deliver the organization’s adolescent health programming. The Training Manager will ensure recruitment, training, and support of these mentors is evolving and scalable in resource limited environments. The Training Manager will require strong technical expertise in facilitation, adult learning, and program management as well as experience digitizing training platforms. The position is both externally and internally facing and requires excellent communication skills (oral and written) across the entire range of GRS stakeholders, including adolescent participants, Coaches, team members, partner organizations, donors, and government officials. The Training Manager will report to the Director of Programs as part of the Global Partnerships Team and will work closely with the Global Research and Development team, namely the Digital Health Specialist, the Senior MEL Manager, and the Senior Manager - Product Development.

Key Focus Areas

Trainer Development

• Lead Coach Development Committee, comprising of program staff and Trainers from GRS and partner organizations
• Oversee GRS’s Global Trainer Pool, ensuring GRS has consistent training capacity by geography and/or technical areas
• Adapt and/or develop and operationalize systems to ensure quality and consistency across Training pool
• Identify gaps in Trainer proficiencies and propose/develop solutions to strengthen Trainer capacity
• Stay informed on emerging needs within the adolescent health sector and propose ideas to scale Trainers, staff as needed

Strategy, Content, and Innovation

• Lead a comprehensive review of the organization’s approach to Coach Development (recruitment, training, and Coach support)
• Develop and monitor global workplan for Coach Development
• Develop, pilot, and iterate new training content, format, and tools across the Coach life cycle
• Review, update, and/or develop systems and tools to ensure quality assurance, performance tracking, and consistency as programs scale
• Develop and oversee workflows to operationalize and monitor any new systems or tools
• Working closely with the Digital Health Specialist, integrate technology into Coach Development to improve accessibility and engagement
• Support Global MEL team with routine monitoring of Coach Development KPIs

Project-Specific Technical Assistance

• Provide technical support to GRS teams as well as partners implementing SKILLZ
• Working closely with GRS Program Managers, contextualize Coach development approach and tools for specific projects and partners
• Lead high priority trainings as required

Qualifications:

• 7+ years of demonstrated experience developing and implementing training systems, content, and quality assurance processes in resource limited environments, ideally in youth development and/or health sectors
• Demonstrated experience integrating digital learning tools and platforms into training or capacity building programs for young people
• Experience providing technical assistance to partners across diverse contexts
• Demonstrated experience working with a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders (e.g., from young people to global headquarters to boards to partners to field teams)
• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field
• Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally (up to 50% of time) with active passport
• Preferred:
  • Master’s degree in relevant field
  • Knowledge and experience working in adolescent health
  • Experience in a cross-cultural work environment
  • Passion for working in adolescent health and/or youth development

Ideal candidate should have exceptional skills in the following:

• Expertise in adult learning methodologies, coaching, and facilitation
• Attention to detail
• Effective communication, both oral and written, in English and other local languages, with wide range of external and internal stakeholders (e.g., young people, Ministry leaders, Civil Society leaders, board members, senior leadership, staff)
• Time management and prioritization
• Ability to proactively identify issues, propose and implement solutions
• Building relationships with wide range of staff and partners, and operating within diverse social and cultural contexts, often virtually over multiple continents, and time zones
• Thinking strategically yet knowing how and when to dive into the details
• Ability to see and tell stories from numbers

Successful leaders at Grassroot Soccer are bold, yet humble. They are passionate about the mission of Grassroot Soccer and understand their role on the Grassroot Soccer team to achieve its mission.

Day to day, they are…

• Proactive: can anticipate both opportunities and obstacles and take action
• Professional: level-headed; ability to de-escalate difficult situations, behave exceptionally, and manage/minimize distractions
• Problem Solvers: comfortable with ambiguity, can creatively unlock bottlenecks and turn problems into opportunities

…they demonstrate lots of…

• Common Sense: prioritizing the right things at the right time; making good, quick, informed decisions balancing multiple issues and points of view
• Self-awareness: know where one’s blind spots are, recognize differences, and build a team to complement one’s skills and weaknesses

…and a strong bias for…

• Follow-through and Outcomes: deliver results, not just create lots of activity
• Treating People Well: empathetic, kind, great listener, yet can make tough decisions and hold oneself/others accountable

All candidates should apply using the following link: https://forms.gle/rdqTTsysCaDVw7Gd6

Application Deadline: Open until filled. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

We are an equal opportunity employer and believe in fair and equitable pay practices. We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, ensuring that all employees, regardless of background, have equal access to opportunities for growth and success.

Grassroot Soccer does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. We strive to create an inclusive workplace that reflects the diverse communities we serve.